The ‘Children’s Rights: Refugee Education’ event on refugee children’s rights to quality accredited education was held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand in Bangkok, on 24 April 2015, brought together the attendance of over 50 representatives from media agencies, NGOs, foreign embassies, schools, researchers, and other interested parties.

Speakers from Save the Children, Right to Play, Jesuit Refugee Service, Myanmar Education Consortium, Karen Education Department, and a filmmaker engaged in discussions on current challenges facing refugee education in light of the closure of the refugee camps recently announced by the Government of Thailand and subsequent repatriation of refugees to Myanmar.  Save the Children’s short film ‘Our Education: Realize Our Dreams’, based on interviews with refugee children on their concerns about their education opportunities and other refugees living in the camps, was also screened at the event.

Education in refugee camps: successes and challenges
The nine refugee camps set up over 30 years ago along the Thailand-Myanmar border currently host approximately 120,000 refugees, including 30,000 students.  Speakers from Save the Children and partners Right to Play and JRS presented the education programmes currently being implemented in the camps, called the Basic Education Support Toward Transition (BEST) and the Preparing for Reintegration Through Education and Participative Solutions (PREPS).  Funded by the European Union (EU) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the programmes provide basic education services for school-age children and youth, and work towards improving the quality and guaranteeing the sustainability of education for refugee children. 

Despite these efforts and successes, obstacles remain to a sustainable education system for refugees. Natural disasters, high turnover rate, and lack of recognition for certifications obtained in the camps, are serious threats to quality education. Various speakers also highlighted a shift of interest from Thailand to Myanmar in donor funding, further weakening the capacity of NGOs in Thailand to provide adequate support for refugees.

Closure of the camps, repatriation, and education
With the forthcoming elections and continuing peace process in Myanmar,  many questions arise on what the future holds for refugees outside the camps. Whether they will be able to access adequate education after returning to Myanmar is one of the main concerns for refugees. The ‘Beyond Access:  Refugee Students’ Experiences of Myanmar State Education’ research by Save the Children and follow-up with repatriated refugees has shown there is no official policy and no clear procedures regarding integration of refugee students into schools in Myanmar.

Speakers recommended that the Myanmar government, in partnership with the Thai government, with the support of NGOs, design a clear policy of transition for students and disseminate it as widely as possible within Myanmar and the refugee camps.  It was also suggested that refugee children should receive targeted financial, academic, and psychosocial support when entering the Myanmar education system upon their return. 

Speakers concluded on the need to work together on both sides of the border to ensure education issues are addressed when considering repatriation of refugees. Only then will we be able to provide refugee children with a viable education system. 

Written by Laura Deprez and edited by Songporn Leelakitichok, Save the Children Thailand

For more information, please contact:
Songporn Leelakitichok
Communications and Advocacy Coordinator 
bea.leelakitichok@savethechildren.org